🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Mason does have a child so that can always be under consideration if he has a great year. The last player who had that situation at PG for KU was good ol Tharpe. Different situation but he also tried to go pro after his Jr year after Self canned him. A child will always make you think twice about your decision.

I do think Mason can make the league, he doesn't have weight concerns that Collins did & I think Mason is a real athlete. Obviously his PG skills will have to keep evolving. He's definitely one of the best returning guards in the country & a bit underrated at this point from the media.

As far as Malik Monk is concerned I'm convinced he's just using KU & late night for a night out on the town type deal. Him & Giles get their free ride before deciding what they already know.

@jayballer54

Yes Florida St has been the leader for a while. I hear that he was brought to the USA by connections of the FSU program. So his handler's might be pushing him there in the end. We definitely seem to be gaining ground which is a rarity this summer with these kids & the fact that he locked in a visit is very promising. Norm Roberts has been the guy on him so there's definitely a possibility that he could commit here.

Dewan Huell is a key guy in the Azubuike sweepstakes. Another Florida kid that FSU is the leader with & is a PF/C type. If he's to commit before him, then it could really push Udoka our way. That's all just speculation at this point though.

I also see Tony Bradley chose UNC so there's another big off the board..

I'm willing to bet this tweet was fake in response to Self's confidence that was reported.

Usually Self will not comment on anything this big without some creditable knowledge.
He's a genius at throwing smoke screen comments.

@drgnslayr

Nice post!

When I see Azubuike I see more Shaq than anyone. Can't shoot FT but is such a big body that will always be his strength especially in College. Can he develop touch with his power?

With Bolden I see more Okafor than anyone else of comparison. Guy can flat out score with both hands & unlike Okafor can actually defend and block shots. Because we lose Ellis it forces our hand to find a scoring big & he's the perfect fit..

Just saw the top SG/combo guard in the 16 class will be visiting KU for Late Night.

I find it interesting that we are around in his recruitment. Most people have him staying local with Arkansas for which he has family connections or UK for which has recruited hard as well. We are 1 of his 4 official visits.

The question I have, is this like Harry Giles who's just using his free visits to see other schools while already knowing where he's going? I don't think I've ever seen a single thing published that said KU was a legit landing spot for him.
Arkansas has literally sent their whole team to his games, UK is well ya know. He's one of the best prospects in the class but why are these prospects using us for visits?? Unless someone knows something I don't..

@justanotherfan

I agree that Weis decimated the future of the team for the next few years. The off-season dismal's certainly didn't help at Wr & RB but I have a feeling they were probably for the good of the team going forward. He does deserve at least 2 years until expectations should be placed on him. Recruiting & player development with what he has is paramount. I think if he a creates a competitive nature & finds ways to be competitive in the games without the players he needs that will go a long way to telling what they have with him at coach.

@jayballer54

November 11-18th for the Early period. Spring goes from April 13 to May 18th this year.

Football team will be lucky to get a W this year. I see the new coach as the 1st positive step in yrs but this team is so depleted of talent to compete in the Big 12 that its going to be a rough season.

@drgnslayr

Could mean a lot if he's a guy that can find ways to exploit his huge advantage on the inside. I would find it hard to believe Self wouldn't teach him to be a deadly seal player from post to post. I saw another report point out that he's a poor FT shooter so that dreaded hackashaq stigma may follow him. I certainly wouldn't mind an all girth and power Center. We've had the athletic types but not a bruiser in quite some time. Imagine the B2B skill of Bolden & Power in Azubuike with Bragg & Coleby. Talk about imposing line!!

I see the scouts view on Herard as well. Saying they question his effort to play in the Self system as well as concerns on weight. Seems like some view him as needing a good coach that can push him.

@drgnslayr

No disagreement on all the points you made, he's a talent that you take a chance on.

He does seem to have excellent athleticism for his size, he could probably stand to lose a good amount of weight without losing any power which Hudy would always work with him on. That way he's a more nimble athlete that can run the floor without any issue. Although not nearly as big, Josh Smith always comes to mind where a guy so big is practically held against him when the game gets physical.

I'm just curious why scouts seem to be dropping him in the ranks/why the fringe 5star status..I mean he has shaq size, why is he not a consensus top 10 player? I understand this class of 16 is widely viewed as one of the deepest & best especially in the guard ranks so anyone can easily be lost in the shuffle. I've seen the scouting reports, they seem to point out effort, weight & skill as his "to do list". Effort is a tough thing to find on a consistent basis & usually requires good coaching to break bad habits. KU could definitely teach him some post moves to go with that break the rim power he has. Hopefully the KU coaches are working on a scheduled visit ala Late Night

@drgnslayr

He sure is a space eater. In HS he's had everything his own way because of his size. I don't think in College it will be the same so he's going to have to develop more skill around the basket. That's why he's a fringe 5 star prospect at this point. With his size & power he'd be top 5 if it wasn't for him needing to improve on his shooting, moves etc..

After seeing how poorly Alexander's power translated to the College level I'm hesitant with these big guys who don't have the shooting skills to adjust to the College game. The game is really turning against players like him these days. If Huell signs with Florida St, I think this guy will land out of town. Not sure how much Duke has been recruiting him. Hopefully we will find out if this guy is going to visit soon.

Schnider should be a priority especially since he and Bolden have played together for 2 summers. He is down to the 5 schools & KU is the biggest fish after him. He has visits set to Miss St, Texas Tech & Us (with KU getting his last visit so far). Cal & Purdue are his other choices but he hasn't set any visits to them.

He definitely has other options then just coming here and probably having to sit as opposed to playing right away for another team. He's good enough to come to KU but his skill development is what holds him back from being a higher ranked 4 star. I think we should sign him because you can't teach his size & you just don't know what his progression would be here until it happens.

I am hearing we have a good chance with Udoka Azuibuike who most thought was a cinch to stay in Florida. This space eating man child is all power and force inside who still needs to add skill to his post game. Can you imagine him and Bolden & Herard on this team wow!! Talk about totally changing the complexion of your team by getting 3 space eaters.

Looks like Tony Bradley is a name we need to keep an eye on as well. Said KU & UNC after him the hardest. He's been to UNC a few times so they are considered the favorite but it will be interesting if we can get him on campus for a visit. Unlike all the other bigs we are recruiting, Bradley can shoot from outside & runs the floor extremely well. He has no wasted movement on his shot. Safe to say I think the staff is doing what they can to land some kids.

Without Diallo I don't believe we are a championship team. We all saw last years post situation, it doesn't change if he's not playing. Bragg is an excellent prospect who's ready to contribute. Can he start at the 5 if Diallo is out.. I know he doesn't prefer that to be his position & he's definitely going to need the weight room to avoid being beat up.

Mickelson looks ready to step up but let's face it Lucas & Mari are not the typical post players we have had in the past that we can rely on. They are both too limited offensively & its hard to find something that either excels at consistently. With Diallo, Lucas & Mari likely get limited minutes & that's where they belong.

I do think that our back-court could be absolutely overwhelming to opponents if used correctly. Selden at the 3 just looks like a match. I think Selden is poised to be the lead scoring option.

Either using Graham or Svi at the other guard spot with Mason is a salivating situation. We really have all the riches to use. And that's before I even mention the freshman Vick & 3ball sniper Greene.

The big BUT here is that Self is so stubborn with throwing it in the post but I think the WUG at least opened his eyes to a different style of play. KU thrived on the fast pace freedom offense with basic KU sets. Imagine us running that same fast pace style with Svi, Graham, Greene & Diallo! That would change my mind greatly about our title aspirations. For now we are a top 5 team that desperately needs its top recruit to play. We can't seriously go through a 3rd straight year without our top post prospect in the lineup.

@HighEliteMajor

That would be a worst case scenario for him. I think Selden will have a great year and be a pro which would allow Vick to slide into a rotation spot. Has Self ever had this much perimeter talent & depth??

@HighEliteMajor

It is a big compliment and I'll probably be dead wrong. I did see the most recent AAU youtube tape thats out on him so that could be blinding me. I went back and watched some of the WUG & I was just impressed by his play. How does his talent sit the bench all year??

Good to know Svi has really started to transform his body. Now we hope that translates to getting buckets at a better %.

I think Greene does give us a lot of value with his 3 ball & improved rebounding. The downside was he didn't get the individual or team development this summer that everyone else got. So its hard to project that he will be an improved player.

I also believe Vick has the highest ceiling on the team. I expect he will be seldom used because that's what Self always does when a player is buried on the depth chart and will complain about not using him enough after the fact. I fully expect him to be a stud next year & as a junior.

@clevelandjayhawk

If you have a labtop with HDMI you can stream the game from comp to big screen or google chromecast will do the same from your phone or labtop.. Still could watch on the Big Screen

@DCHawker

Your right it does bother me we don't close the deal early lately. It hasn't happened in recent memory with KU but a lot more kids sign early or commit then something happens (coaching change etc) and they open it up. It seemed like a record amount of kids were available this spring. Spring recruiting has really become some kind of trend. How mad would we be if we landed a OAD type or highly recognized recruit & then he ended up going somewhere else. We'd be furious.

Since we recruit the best we run that risk of them all waiting til the spring especially in today's culture. Let's see if Bolden makes it past the fall uncommitted. He said Spring but the way he's doing his visits suggest he's open to signing early & hopefully they can close the deal at Late Night.

I don't have an explanation for why this is trending this way but a lot of has to do with our location & lack of top talent in the area. We fight with the best schools every year in other people's backyards & that's hard to do. Duke & Kentucky just seem to have this "class above the rest" label going on right now. They get who they want..

We are definitely still in it with Bolden. The kid just announced he was going to visit KU TWICE. He knows most of our front court is gone regardless of what happens with Diallo. He wants to play the 4 & Duke won't offer that after Giles & Gabriel sign with them. Kentucky is getting a visit coming up but we at the moment are getting his last visits scheduled so far. So with his visit solo & then for Late Night we have the chance to give him everything he will need to know about KU. At that point if he doesn't want to come here then so be it.

We don't have any recruiting momentum at the moment but it could change with a blink of an eye. We have visits coming from Lightfoot, Herard, 2 4 star forwards who will be system players. Late Night is sure to draw some more & especially juniors which we have done a pretty good job making in-roads with.

Jackson is a long-shot, Fox is a long-shot from what the experts say but they both play positions that at the moment there is no guarantee of a starting job. As others have alluded we may return from 7-9 players next year (9 is probably a best case scenario). I've given up on the idea Diallo will be here as a Soph. regardless of eligibility. We need an impact big, if we miss on Bolden then Self will hit the spring recruiting hard as he always does. We also could use a system big so Herard is my preference but I'm sure Self will fill that void.

Its way too early for the sky is falling someone is dropping the ball speech yet..

@Lulufulu

If they can prove Hamilton took money to show off Skal then I believe they will also have to prove he was aware of it and received benefits as well.

Links below are older but show what he's dealing with.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/11/12/saga-of-skal-labissiere-takes-another-turn-as-report-claims-guardian-was-trying-to-profit-on-him/ ↗

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/18/five-star-kentucky-commit-skal-labissiere-believes-the-ncaa-will-clear-him-to-play/ ↗

They just signed Humphries which would lead me to believe that UK is silently worried about him not being cleared in time for the season.

@HighEliteMajor

Well we could look at in a number of ways with regards to Diallo costing us a player that could help us this year. The Davis situation seemed to be where KU liked him, Davis wanted to come here but we hadn't put all our effort into signing him at the expense of Diallo/Bragg & others.

A situation where Davis was behind in the "pecking order" maybe?

Davis ended up signing with the school that made him the priority/ close to home & joining a great class for Texas A&M. I don't know all the specifics with him but from what I gathered we only wanted Davis if he waited for us to know what the others were doing.

We might have signed Diallo late but we had been recruiting him for such a long time. Was Our Savior under NCAA scrutiny at that point? Did we knowingly recruit him for years knowing the school he attended was possibly in trouble or that the classes these kids were taking was under review? I think we started recruiting him around spring of 2014 maybe the year before. Did we get to the point where it was the point of no return I don't know. I'm sure we did the risk/reward on him & obviously the reward vs whatever risk was involved was worth taking.

What we do know is that none of us including KU have any idea which way this is going to end up. When you put our past history lumped together with what's happening with Diallo & his teammates it doesn't sound promising. Dillard was already cleared, Eubanks is still awaiting word but can't attend Alabama & doesn't sound likely to be cleared. Yakwe his other teammate just re-classified to 2015 class with St Johns. I'm sure he eligibility will be in question. No word on if Wilson has been cleared at Pitt as of yet. It could drag into October which would be about right for the NCAA messing with kids.

@truehawk93

We don't play Kentucky until late January just for clarification.

We are at the mercy of the NCAA with this situation, and usually that means an innocent kid is going to be punished.

@DanR

That sounds about right. At this point it doesn't matter what Selden's ranking was but he's still here and poised to have a great year. His reputation will change if he has the year we are all expecting.

@HighEliteMajor

I would love to believe we have a serious chance of getting Bolden but at this moment I don't feel confident after watching us lose a top 10 talent to the SEC's bottom feeder. Seriously Alabama, they had to bring out their football coach to wow him, that's how bad their BBall program has fallen. And now there is word that the AAU coach of Bolden is on Alabama's staff? Wow this is like St Johns signing every coach but KU's who recruited Diallo.

Where's our questionable recruiting tactics lately playing in our favor?? I know Chalmers is an example but that was what 10 years ago..

You are right it seems like KU has become on the outside for a lot of players. Where did our momentum go, we are supposed to be one of the elite programs in the country but yet all anyone can talk about is Duke & Kentucky getting recruits. The latest is Fox to UK, or Jackson to Maryland? Jackson says he will visit but didn't say when yet, but yet he had no problem just showing up on Maryland's campus.

Okay back on topic, I do like that Bolden has been placed as the top priority with the 2 visits. And that he is serious enough about coming here that he's going to do both visits. He is the kid we need from the class more than anyone. We likely will have enough back-court players to absorb not getting an elite wing or PG. But we can't survive without an elite big so that definitely puts him as the must have prospect.

As far as Herard & Bolden. During the summer Bolden viewed himself as more of a 4 so I would think he's looking to come in and be told he's got the PF spot. When Duke signs Giles & Gabriel I find it hard to believe Duke will still land him especially with the amount of bigs they have projected to be there. Jeter isn't projected as a OAD so he's likely to be at Duke a few years.

Herard is a true 5 and they have great chemistry together while playing together on the summer circuit. I think that bodes well for us landing both but we will have to beat out Mississippi St who with Howland is now a destination for recruits. Newman going there changes things a lot. I bet Howland is selling Herard on being the cornerstone recruit in the post for them. But at the same time Herard has always mentioned KU as his top school since last year. Bolden & Herard would be the ideal combination of elite play right away vs developmental talent. Sign these guys ASAP Self!!

Says he will visit Sept-25-26 then come back for Late Night. Howard suggested he come when no other recruits are here & then when most of them come for Late Night. Says KU is a serious option for him. Seems his recruitment has shifted to KU, Duke & possibly Alabama now (they have some connection to him now).

We will see if one recruit comes through on their pledge to visit KU..

@Lulufulu

It's not as simple as you think but at the moment we have to be at least aware that he could be ruled ineligible. At this point until a ruling or some concrete evidence comes out, we are all just speculating what's real and what's really happening with him.

As far as Eubanks, Alabama does not allow students to enroll if they are not eligible (which apparently KU does) but at the same time Eubanks is claiming its his ACT score that is the holdup & the NCAA is still currently looking into it. Maybe he receives good word and is let into school but unlike Diallo who has already been cleared by KU admissions and has been taking classes for over a month in College, Eubanks has not been allowed to do anything.

I never thought we would spend our summers dissecting eligibility concerns but here we are, struck again by the NCAA's umbilical cord

@hawkmoon2020

Well he's already enrolled in school so his eligibility only concerns around him playing basketball.

I am in no way being a downer on this season. I doubt we make it through the non-con undefeated, there are tough enough games to expect a loss or 2. We don't want to be undefeated because the pressure to keep winning becomes overwhelming. Self usually has his team locked and loaded after a loss, especially if we get the return game in conference play.

Diallo's presence or lack of is the biggest domino effect in this season. If he plays and starts, he limits the post minutes for Mari & Lucas which could be a good thing. I'm assuming Mickelson played himself into a role this summer. We need Diallo's defense & talent, without it we are just another team with some good pieces

We have had brutal schedules before and they didn't help us one bit in the tournament. What we need is a healthy team with all its parts (Diallo) & a team that has chemistry and an identity to make it past the first weekend.

The biggest key to this schedule will be the road games. A lot of games for the team to draw back from last year as we can do better than this. The meltdown's in Manhattan & Stillwater, poor 1st half in Ames, whatever it was we were a poor road team. Maybe the biggest improvement as a team in conference play will be to have that killer mentality on the road that we didn't have last year.

@HighEliteMajor

I was getting confused that I had missed something with Diallo's schooling. It was in no attempt to call you out we all have brain camps from time to time.

At first glance our last 5 games do us no favor, I'd almost trade some of those early home games for the end of the year.

Start by traveling to what will be a terrible K-St but on the road none the less, @ Baylor which was a slugfest last year, easy home game vs T-Tech. Then we go on the road for Big Monday against Texas & then end the year with Senior Night @ home vs Iowa St which you could argue might be for the league.

It's definitely a tough schedule especially when you throw in Kentucky smack dab in the middle of it all. Starting with Baylor & Oklahoma @ home within 3 days is also interesting. As always we will have to earn the title again.

@HighEliteMajor

Diallo went to American Heritage? was that a typo?

Interesting schedule with 3 of first 5 games at home.

@Iowa St then Kentucky @ home then K-St at home is going to be some kind of emotional rollercoaster..

Jan. 2 Baylor

Jan. 4 Oklahoma

Jan. 9 at Texas Tech

Jan. 12 at West Virginia

Jan. 16 TCU

Jan. 19 at Oklahoma State

Jan. 23 Texas

Jan. 25 at Iowa State

Jan. 30 Kentucky (Big 12/SEC Challenge)

Feb. 3 Kansas State

Feb. 6 at TCU

Feb. 9 West Virginia

Feb. 13 at Oklahoma

Feb. 15 Oklahoma State

Feb. 20 at Kansas State

Feb. 23 at Baylor

Feb. 27 Texas Tech

Feb. 29 at Texas

March 5 Iowa State

@RockkChalkk

If KE is in fact ineligible again there really has to be some incompetent people that haven't steered this kid to right avenues to be eligible. Missing 1 year happens, but missing another after going to prep school and not being eligible just seems unfair. The guidelines for getting his eligibility should have been clearly layed out for this kid by both the NCAA & whatever school he attended to work on these issues. I know I would be upset if this happened to my child/me.

I have seen some recent chatter on Kobie Eubanks being ineligible again to attend Alabama because of his credits from Our Savior not being accepted.. Jerry Meyer has "reliable" source that this is in fact what is the problem for him. And further commented on how this doesn't look good for Diallo. While I believe he's assuming the part of Diallo from Eubanks situation with the school ties he doesn't offer any direct knowledge of Diallo's current situation other than assumption by association

UK gets a commit from 4 star maybe 5 star recruit Sacha Killeya-Jones a 6'11 C who was once a Virginia commit. The only reason I mention this is because of Marques Bolden who is considering UK but that could change now with this commitment. Could bode well for KU...

@JayHawkFanToo

His only other visit is to Mississippi St at the moment in September. He's coming to Late Night again..

@JayHawkFanToo

He is a player with limited skill but tremendous potential to develop. He's only played basketball a handful of years, if he was going to be making that kind of jump the grassroots grind would have been where he did it. I think he will continue to stay around where he is which is fine. He could have a big Sr year, that you are right about. Not sure what schools have placed a priority on him. I know KU and himself have mutual interest since last year but I've always wondered if we are considered the favorite for him or if other schools have made him the guy for them... Anyone have any real info on him??

@konkeyDong

I've also seen him change his mind 50 times (Diallo for instance) but I generally agree that he's the most knowledgeable of the bunch over there. He should be, he's the director. I was hoping he was wrong about Ferguson especially with KU's long standing relationship but somehow someway Johnson found the right way to shake him his way. For me, it stings because I thought he was in the bag, even after not committing right after his visit.

Some good news to report.

Schnider Herard has scheduled an official visit to KU. I believe he unofficially visited last year for Late Night if memory is correct. Not the impact big we will need but definitely a 4 year type with lots of development left. We are definitely the biggest school after him but I've always wondered if we have others we covet more & if he will go to a smaller school where the focus is more on him?

@drgnslayr

Agreed, 247 sports is the worst culprit with its crystal ball predictions. Recruiting has become a big $ game with social media & the internet's reach to everyone and anyone.

@joeloveshawks

I'm confident that Self will get players and we will certainly need them after this year where we lose 3 Seniors & could lose numerous underclassmen. I using the Sky is Falling analogy to get us talking about something as it relates to the future of this program.

Ferguson was the first fastball that we've now struck-out on. He was likely a OAD candidate because of his shooting & crazy hops but if the roster shakes out in the worst case scenario we could have really used a talented player like him to fill gaps we may have..

@drgnslayr

With Svi its all about potential. And he's an international player who is very young so I can see the NBA intrigue. If he turns the potential into reality he's got great size for the next level at the 2 or the 3. Worst case scenario is he will have a nice int'l career. So again I can see the reason why he's highly thought of. I agree, the hype and media attention is outrageous and that alone could kick him out to the league before he's really ready. Let's be honest he's not the 1st 2nd or even 3rd option if he starts on this team. He's going to need more than just this year to even stand the chance of being a contributer at the next level.

I think this is a big deal, losing a top 10 recruit to anyone is a hard thing to swallow. It's hard enough to recruit the best and have to battle Duke/UNC/UK but we had none of that with this guy, we were in the drivers seat and lost to a 2nd rate SEC school. It's certainly not the end of the world but we could have used this type of talent the same way we've used other athletic wings in the past.

We (may) have a lot of wings back next and we might not. Who knows how Selden & Svi will do & if they will come back. Vick has tremendous potential but nobody can be seriously sold on Greene at this point.

@joeloveshawks

I'm kidding but it is a big-time loss to a program known for its basketball as much as KU is known for its football. And Self spent a lot of time on this kid to lose out to a program which basically used his AAU program to get him.. Always the sharks out there praying on the fish.

The check cleared...

is the sky falling?

@drgnslayr

can't blame him for turning pro with that size. It's not everyday you find a 7-1 C.

What I do find funny how the article says he wasn't a major loss but yet if he was here was expected to get backup minutes for a team that has zero post depth behind their starters. I mean they had to go sign 2 un-heralded recruits last minute to even have some size behind them. Sounds to me they will be playing Nader or Burton out of position a lot because expecting those guys they signed to make impacts is risky. So not having a 7'1 international talent that at least got some court burn is a major loss in my eyes..

Ok that made no sense.

But the 2015 class was all headed to UK too and they ended up missing on a lot

@Crimsonorblue22

half the schools were not even recruiting him but he's got 7 on his list. Cut the crap these pre-madonna's. All UK does is extend an offer and now they are the favorite, great they can have him

wake me up in april when he decides..

@JhawkAlum

great post!